Matthew Stafford must lead the LA Rams as though he’s been here before

All on the line

The LA Rams entrusted the 2021 season to Matthew Stafford in a big way.  This wasn’t the run-of-the-mill type of acquisition, mind you. The LA Rams’ entire organization mobilized to bring Matthew Stafford to the team. Mind you, this was a perfect storm of unrealized potential. Even as the Rams had decided that young quarterback Jared Goff was not the answer for the team’s future, Stafford realized that he was wilting within the Detroit Lions organization and asked to be traded.

While the Rams assembled what they thought was a competitive offer, they learned that the offer of the Carolina Panthers held more value. That compelled head coach Sean McVay to personally lobby team owner Stan Kroenke to authorize upping the ante, which he did. What the LA Rams eventually pulled together was a king’s ransom. In the mind of the organization, Stafford was a game-changing quarterback.

But whenever you add a new piece of furniture to your home, the rest of the room gets a ‘makeover’ to reflect the new color scheme and decorum. So too, the Rams were thrust into a quickly orchestrated makeover of their offense.  To own a high-performance engined race car, you need a track to race it on. With the newly acquired strong-armed quarterback Stafford on the roster, the Rams offense needed speedy receivers to test the back end of NFL defenses.

So the team signed free agent wide receiver DeSean Jackson, a veteran wide receiver known for his efficiency at running deep routes. The team then drafted speedsters WR Tutu Atwell and1 TE Jacob Harris, two college prospects whose speed would give the team other deep-threat options. The team then reset the offensive line with the focus upon pass-blocking.  That set the offense for the 2021 NFL season.